Impact of new society of radiologists in ultrasound early first-trimester diagnostic criteria for nonviable pregnancy.

Objectives: New early first-trimester diagnostic criteria for nonviable pregnancy recommended by the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound via a multispecialty consensus panel extended the diagnostic size criteria of crown-rump length from 5 to 7 mm for embryos without a heartbeat and mean sac diameter from 16 to 25 mm for "empty" sacs. Our study assessed the potential impact of the new criteria on the number of additional follow-up sonograms these changes would engender.

Methods: A retrospective study of all first-trimester sonograms in women with first trimester bleeding from 1999 to 2008 was conducted.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor mediates hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a devastating disease leading to progressive hypoxemia, right ventricular failure, and death. Hypoxia can play a pivotal role in PH etiology, inducing pulmonary vessel constriction and remodeling. These events lead to increased pulmonary vessel wall thickness, elevated vascular resistance and right ventricular hypertrophy.

Elevated serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) concentrations in chronic kidney disease (CKD) are associated with markers of oxidative stress and endothelial activation.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) carries an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Macrophage migration inhibiting factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of sepsis, autoimmune disease, atherogenesis, and plaque instability, and is a known cardiac depressant. This post-hoc, cross-sectional study examined whether MIF serum concentrations are elevated in CKD patients.

Alterations of the HBP1 transcriptional repressor are associated with invasive breast cancer.

Invasive breast cancer has a high risk of recurrence to incurable disease and needs improved prognostic and therapeutic tools. Our work combines clinical and molecular analyses to show that the transcriptional repressor HBP1 may be a new target for invasive breast cancer. Previous work indicated that HBP1 regulated proliferation and senescence and inhibited Wnt signaling.

The anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin in an experimental model of sepsis is mediated by up-regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma.

Objective: Although phytochemical curcumin has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties, it remains unknown whether this agent has any beneficial effects in sepsis. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether curcumin protects septic animals and, if so, whether activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma, an anti-inflammatory nuclear receptor, plays any role.

Design: Prospective, controlled, and randomized animal study.

Proapoptotic effect of curcumin on human neutrophils: activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

Objective: Despite advances in the management of sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome, the mortality rate remains high. Delayed apoptosis of neutrophils is associated with multiple organ failure under those conditions. Thus, development of nontoxic neutrophil apoptosis regulating molecules may provide a novel therapeutic strategy.

Alpha-chemokine receptor blockade reduces high mobility group box 1 protein-induced lung inflammation and injury and improves survival in sepsis.

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein, a late mediator of lethality in sepsis, can induce acute inflammatory lung injury. Here, we identify the critical role of alpha-chemokine receptors in the HMGB1-induced inflammatory injury and show that alpha-chemokine receptor inhibition increases survival in sepsis, in a clinically relevant time frame. Intratracheal instillation of recombinant HMGB1 induces a neutrophilic leukocytosis, preceded by alveolar accumulation of the alpha-chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-2 and accompanied by injury and increased inflammatory potential within the air spaces.

Regulation of polymorphonuclear leukocyte apoptosis: role of lung endothelium-epithelium bilayer transmigration.

Delayed polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) apoptosis exacerbates acute lung injury. To reach the alveolar spaces, PMNs must migrate across both pulmonary endothelial and epithelial cell layers. We hypothesized that transmigration across the endothelium-epithelium bilayer suppresses PMN apoptosis and sought to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Transmigration across a lung epithelial monolayer delays apoptosis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Background: Suppression of polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) apoptosis may cause or exaggerate acute lung injury that is associated with the acute respiratory distress syndrome. We hypothesized that transepithelial migration would modulate PMNL apoptosis.

Method: PMNLs that were freshly purified from normal volunteers were allowed to migrate across transwell membranes alone or coated with monolayers of human lung epithelial cells in response to chemoattractants (interleukin-8, formyl-methionylleucylphenylalanine and leukotriene B(4)).

Suppression of nuclear factor-kappa B activity by nitric oxide and hyperoxia in oxygen-resistant cells.

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is used clinically to treat pulmonary hypertension in newborns, often in conjunction with hyperoxia (NO/O2). Prolonged exposure to NO/O2 causes synergistic lung injury and death of lung epithelial cells. To explore the mechanisms involved, oxygen-resistant HeLa-80 cells were exposed to NO +/- O2.

Abundant expression of Dec1/stra13/sharp2 in colon carcinoma: its antagonizing role in serum deprivation-induced apoptosis and selective inhibition of procaspase activation.

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins are intimately associated with developmental events such as cell differentiation and lineage commitment. The HLH domain in the bHLH motif is responsible for dimerization, whereas the basic region mediates DNA binding. Based on sequence alignment and domain analysis, differentially expressed in chondrocytes/stimulated with retinoic acid/split and hairy-related proteins (DEC/STRA/SHARPs) represent a new class of bHLH proteins.